A new device could stop over one million automobile accidents each year, its inventor claims.

Deer Deter is an automated electronic system designed to keep wild deer and other large animals from running into oncoming traffic in the dark of night. Using a combination of light and sound, it literally stops the animals in their tracks as cars pass by.

Yeah...so does a .308 Win. Allow more doe permits and drop the population and that will reduce the number of accidents more effectively. Hooves on asphalt doesn't work well when they are in the middle of the road already.

Rut season was amazing here in NC this year, it was not unusual to see groups of deer crossing the road in urban areas, in broad daylight. I’d never hit a deer despite a lot of rural night driving until last year. Fortunately minor, weather was bad with lots of standing water so I was moving fairly slowly. Knocked a foglamp off, crazed the paint on the bumper. The deer skidded on it’s side on the pavement, hopped up, shook itself off and leapt off into the woods.

Many swear by those deer whistles. It’s a common sight to see them mounted on car and truck bumpers here. The effectiveness of them is suspect in my opinion, though, so I’ve never used them.

In coastal California, with the small coastal deer, that might not be a problem unless you nail an Alpha Buck or doe. One of our friends hit a big buck and did about 8K$’s in damage to her big white* luxury suv.

For about a decade I carried a skinning knife and fillet knife, a small butcher saw, and a few large Zip lock bags in the back of my OJ Simpson Bronco. That was passed on to a younger relative, who got an early inheritance of the decade old Bronco. It is rumored that a small coastal deer striking a white suv, will cause minamal damage to a large OJ Simpson Bronco and have excellent tasting back straps.

*White vehicles and deer kill.

This is not a scientific study, but it seems that our California coastal deer for some reason do not see the all white vehicles and often will walk right into one. They don’t seem to see grey vehicles either, and we have watch when driving my wife’s grey vehicle. They seem to see blue, and they get out of the way of my blue pickup which replaced the all white OJ Simpson Bronco.

18
posted on 12/01/2012 11:15:10 AM PST
by Grampa Dave
(Tagline space for rent to pay for some of my extra taxes the next 4 years!)

What a strange story - but interesting, as I had a nearly-similar experience.

I once hit a dear, also going 40+ mph, as it came across the front of my car from the left. My left-front bumper hit it in the neck. Its ass swung inward, smashing into the approximate area of the driver’s rear-view mirror. At that point, the animal’s bowels and their contents splattered across the driver’s door and window.

“The deer kill at least half the trees I have planted. My next step is a 5 foot razor wire fence.”

After, our close to 100# German Short Haired pointer went to doggie heaven, the deer invaded our property and killed over 3 dozen roses. Some of the Roses were in their second decade, and were beautiful.

Nothing worked for more than a year to stop them. They would come up on our decks and ate everything we planted.

Our HOA banned perimeter fences at that time. Later, we got permission to put in a deer fence and put in a 7’ high deer fence with and extra foot of height on the green 4 inch diameter fence posts.

If the 7’ didn’t stop them, we could install a strand of military barb wire across that extra foot over the 7’ fence. For two years, it has worked. The fence cost us over $4k to have it installed around what is now our protected garden area.

We have roses, raised/harvested tomatoes and other plants both edible and for landscaping that are thriving. The deer look in and can’t get in. They have created a fire lane clearance by eating stuff from 10-30’ outside the fence. Neighbors to the North and West have put in similiar fences and their potential fire hazard has been reduced as well as ours.

24
posted on 12/01/2012 11:30:36 AM PST
by Grampa Dave
(Tagline space for rent to pay for some of my extra taxes the next 4 years!)

My husband and I were driving at night in either Nebraska or Colorado, I don't remember which, in my Jag, and a cop came up behind us with his lights on. We pulled over and wondered why he did this since we weren't speeding and the Jag was in good shape.

He came to Bill's window and said, “I know you weren't speeding, but you don't know this road. Go no more than 35 mph until you get to the next town. There are Elk on this road all the time. Bill said we had the same trouble with deer in Texas. Cop said an Elk is much larger than a deer and the damage would be great.

Now, I think he said Elk, and not Moose but I'm not positive as that was a number of years ago. We went at that reduced speed on that road until we got to town.

I have friends in Bandera, Texas, and that area must be the homeland for every deer in Texas. That's the hill country and the friends live on a high hill. When my son and I visit these friends, going back we are on the road at night from their house back to Bandera and on to Boerne where we stay. From their house to Bandera, we don't go over 10-15 mph because deer own those roads and cross continually. It's like driving through a zoo with no animals in cages.

People who live there have deer guards on the front of their cars/trucks. Both my friends have hit deer from the deer suddenly charging out of the woods and into the front of their car and the friends know to go slowly but they still hit the deer.

Deer Deter is an automated electronic system designed to keep wild deer and other large animals from running into oncoming traffic in the dark of night.

I'd bet that hunting licenses which allow greater numbers of deer to be taken would be a lot more effective. It's either that or watch the larger predators which traditionally prey on deer make a come-back in human-populated areas.

I work in Palo Alto, near the hills, and we've already gotten a few warnings of mountain lion sightings. I'm all for large ungulates and the big cats which eat them, but on nature reserves - not in the trees near the office parking lots after dark.

Though with the number of squirrels digging up my back yard and roof, I wouldn't mind seeing the local falcon and hawk populations increase.

Had some hunters put feeders up along my boundary fences and luring and shooting deer from my pasture. Went to barber shop in town, filled garbage bag up with his hair trimmings and paid a visit to the feeders and trails from my side in the dark of the night.

In about a week the corn was sprouting under the feeders.

Probably keep deer out of your flowers as well.

41
posted on 12/01/2012 12:41:14 PM PST
by eartick
(Been to the line in the sand and liked it)

Instead of wasting the money on these devices, the government will spend 10-years and $1 billion to develop, in conjunction with PETA, a deer highway crossing retraining program for the misguided creatures.

My family and I were leaving a shopping center one night with our Chinese food in tow.

We pulled out onto the 4 lane divided roadway in a quiet residential area. As I was accelerating in the right lane a car with two older ladies in it passed us in the left lane.

As they did, they apparently hit a rabbit that had darted out in front of them.

The rabbits head/skull shot out of it’s skin, screamed across the road at an angle in front of us, and bounced off the curb back towards them. This all happened about 10 yards in front of us so we all got a good look.

I looked over at the ladies and they seemed to be in a state of shock. The ladies horror seemed to redouble when they looked over and saw an entire young family laughing as hard as they could.

Never saw a rabbit’s head come off like that before, man. It did cause me to look at my kung pao chicken slightly askance when I got home.

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